BIG STORY : Second Test-launch of Agni-V successful

After two rounds of postponement, the second experimental trial of India’s most potent and longest range nuclear capable ballistic missile Agni-V which has the ability to target all of Asia and parts of Europe was finally test fired successfully from the Wheeler Island, off Bhadrak coast at 8.48 am this morning.

“It was a successful launch and met all the parameters”, the DRDO chief Avinash Chander told NDTV over phone after the launch.

The indigenously developed surface-to-surface 5000-km range Agni-V missile was test-fired from a mobile launcher at the Wheeler Island test facility of the Integrated Test Range (ITR) off the Odisha coast.

The maiden test of Agni-V on April 19 last year was a huge success when the missile travelled the desired distance in just 20 minutes.

‘’We expect a better mission accomplishment this time around. This test would be followed by at least two more trials by end of next year before the missile is inducted in the armed forces possibly in 2015,’’ a defence official said.

The missile which can carry a payload of 1.5 tonne, is 17 metre long, two metre wide and weighs around 50 tonnes. DRDO is reported to have been working to equip the missile with Multiple Independent Re-entry Vehicles (MIRVs) through which each missile can carry two to ten separate nuclear warheads and strike at different places.

“The trial is aimed at revalidating some new technologies incorporated in the Agni-V system and gauging the performance of its subsystems. The mission team has worked minutely and meticulously to achieve success with high accuracy,” said a senior DRDO official on Saturday.

Agni-V is India’s most advanced long-range ballistic missile capable of being launched within minutes from a self-contained road mobile launcher.